The San Diego Yacht Club has accepted...

The San Diego Yacht Club has accepted a proposal from Australia’s Cruising Yacht Club to sail off against New Zealand’s America’s Cup challenge team.

But earlier, the New Zealand organization sent a “strongly worded letter” to the San Diego club reminding it that New Zealand is the sole challenger for the prestigious trophy, syndicate chief Michael Fay said.

Fay said the letter had been forwarded after what he termed the “debacle” of a challenge by the British Blue Arrow syndicate, which proposed to use a radical yacht that did not conform to the terms of the New Zealand challenge.

Fay also said that the San Diego club had no right to discuss proposed contests with yachts from Australia or Britain because as sole official challenger, New Zealand must be contacted for any discussions regarding race arrangements.